One Hundred Forty-Five

“Are…are you sure?”

She tried to maintain focus on his face, but her eyes kept darting down to the ring.  It was simply beautiful.  Too big to be practical, but not totally impractical.  A sizable squarish-cut solitaire was outlined by a series of little diamonds while medium-sized diamonds skated down each side of the platinum band.  And there were more diamonds on the front and back edges of the band.

Ho – ly cow he had good taste.

Allegra wasn’t materialistic.  Not even a little.  But this ring was seriously covet-worthy.

Richie interrupted her rapt fascination by lifting a thumb to stroke down her cheek. She may have been imagining it, but she thought she felt him tremble.  Like he was nervous.

“Yes, Sunshine.  I’m very sure.”

“Because you have to be.”  She drew her goggle eyed stare away from the glinting diamonds so that she could affix him with a stern look.  “You can’t do this because you think you’re supposed to, or because somebody else thinks you’re supposed to.  I’m almost forty years old.  When I finally get married, it has to be forever.” 

A lopsided half-grin coaxed one dimple into making an appearance.  He was amused by her disclaimers and probably thought she was saying yes.  But she couldn’t.  Not yet.  Not until he understood beyond the shadow of a doubt.

“I mean it, Richie.  You know how stubborn I am, and I’m telling you right now I will never sign a set of divorce papers.”

“I’m counting on that,” he whispered, running an open palm down the length of her hair.  “It’s time Allegra.  I don’t want to live my life knowing you could walk away any minute.  I don’t want a life without you in it.  You’re my oasis in the middle of the desert.  You make all the crazy go away.  You make me remember what love is supposed to be about.”

He captured her left hand again, poised to push the ring into place.  “Please say yes.”

A peace settled over her heart and her body was suffused with indescribable warmth.  An ex-Sister and a rock star may seem like a crazy pairing to the rest of the world, but it worked for them.  This is what she wanted. 

“Yes.”

His teeth flashed a brilliant white in the early morning light and he wasted no time in sliding the diamond into its rightful place on her left hand.  Quickly flipping around his ball cap so that the bill was in the back, he captured her face between his palms and kissed her with all the love that flooded through him.

A little purr of appreciation crept up from the back of her throat and punched him in the gut with the force of a wrecking ball. If he didn’t get her back to the hotel soon, he was going to take her right here in front of God, the ducks and everyone.

“Sunshine,” he murmured against her lips.  “You can’t have any idea how happy you just made me.  But if you’ll come back to the room, I’ll try my damnedest to show you.”

She giggled.  Giggled.  His very mature, serious, always together girlfriend – err, fiancée – didn’t giggle.  But she was giggling now with the same happiness that threatened to split his chest wide open.

“You’ll have to kick Jon out first,” she spoke around her grin, putting on her flip flops while he climbed to his feet. 

“That will not be a problem.”  He dusted off his knees and put his hand out, hauling her up from the bench the instant their fingers intertwined.  Slipping a possessive arm around her waist, he urged her to walk faster until they were practically jogging back to the hotel.   

“Richie,” she gasped as the elevator doors slid closed.  “If you don’t slow down, I’m going to be all hot and sweaty when we get there.”

“Mmmm,” he growled, collapsing against the back wall of the car and pulling her hips against his.  “I like it when you’re hot for me.”  Richie swallowed her laughter with another kiss, plunging his tongue deep. She was his and he had a desperate need to possess her.  Stroking against the delicate skin of her mouth, he mimicked what he really wanted to be doing, and would, once they got to the suite.  Sinking deep, invading her senses, making her tremble with her own need.

She wrenched her mouth away with a gasp when they arrived at their floor.  Huge blue eyes blinked slowly at him, dilated with desire.  “I see I’m not the only one who’s hot.”

He could easily drown in the lazy blue pools of her eyes.  Pushing his fingers through the dark hair at her scalp, he murmured reverently, “You belong to me.”

Seeking his palm out with her lips, she chuckled softly.  “You silly man.  I’ve always belonged to you.  The only difference is now you’ve branded me.”

He belted out a delighted, carefree chuckle.  When was the last time he’d felt so buoyant?  Never, it seemed.  Latching onto her hand, he pulled her onto the plush carpeting that lined the hall.  “Come on.  Let’s go evict your cousin.”

♥ ♫ ♥

Richie groaned at the intrusive noise.  It was ten in the morning and he’d just closed his eyes after showing Allegra how happy she made him.  Twice.  Combined with a total lack of sleep the night before, he was wiped out.  It was sorely tempting to ignore whoever was rude enough to be calling.

Except that Allegra was jabbing him with her really pointy fingers.  “Answer it before I throw it out the window,” she grumbled, no less exhausted than he.

“That sounds like a plan.  Knock yourself out.”

Her lazy chuckle vibrated against his chest, where she lay contentedly sprawled.  “Just answer it, already.”

“Yes, dear,” he mumbled agreeably before swiping his finger across the screen.  “What?”

Allegra’s dig in the ribs told him that she didn’t approve of his phone etiquette. 

“Where is Allegra?”

Dot.  There was no way in hell he was coherent enough to fend her off, so he took the coward’s way out.

“It’s for you, baby.”

She stuck her hand in the air with a deep sigh, making him feel a little bit bad.  If it had been anybody but Dot, he may have relented.  But it was Dot.

“Hello?”

“Allegra, where are you?  Your amnio appointment is in an hour.  Do you still want me to go with you or is Sir Assalot out of the doghouse?”

She snorted at Dot’s latest pet name for Richie.  “You’re getting more creative all the time.  Yes, he’s out of the doghouse, but I don’t know if he’s going with me or not.”  She tucked the phone under her chin and poked him with her toe.  “Hey.  Doctor’s appointment in an hour.  Do you want to go, or should I ask Dot to go with me?”

“If I can get a gallon of coffee first, I wanna go.”

She nodded and went back to the phone.  “He’s going, but I still think I want you there, too.  You’ve had this done before, right?”

“Yeah.  It pretty well sucks.  He needs to expect to baby you for the rest of the day.  If he’s going to be around, that is.”   Her final statement was liberally laced with sarcasm. 

Allegra grinned and threaded her fingers through the scant hair on Richie’s belly, the diamonds on her left hand winking even in the room’s minimal lighting.  “I’m pretty sure he’ll be around.  We got engaged this morning.”

“What?  No way!” Jon had already been gone when they got to their room, so Dot was the first to hear the news.  “How did he go from screwing the pooch to taking blue ribbon at the dog show?  He didn’t get you some lame bubble gum machine ring just to get his ass out of the fire did he?”

Dot’s reaction made her laugh, but it made her wonder too.   Looking at Richie with a raised eyebrow she told Dot, “The ring is definitely not lame, but I’m not sure where he got it in the middle of the night.”

“Well, make sure he didn’t buy it off some guy in a back alley somewhere.”

“Dot,” she chided.  “You know him better than that.”

“Yeah, I do, but I’m still pissed, so he has to suffer my wrath a while longer.”

“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.  We’ll meet you downstairs in half an hour if that’s okay.”  After receiving Dot’s agreement, Allegra disconnected the call and dropped the phone on Richie’s stomach. 

“What will I be thrilled about?” he asked in a mumble, rolling onto his side to draw her close.

“Mm.  She’s still pissed.  You must suffer her wrath.”

“Tremendous.”  He burrowed his nose into her hair sleepily.  “Can’t we skip the doctor’s appointment?  I’d much rather stay here and be your sex-slave for the day.  After we get some sleep, of course.”

“Sex slave, huh?  You trust me that much?”

He didn’t reply, and Allegra thought he’d fallen asleep until he spoke quietly.  “I do trust you that much.  If that’s what it takes to prove it to you, all you have to do is say the word.”

Her heart lodged in her throat.  Yesterday he’d gone ballistic because of an assumption that she was trying to control him.  Now he was offering to give her what could be considered the ultimate control.

“Eh, you’ve probably done that a thousand times,” she played it off with a shrug.  “It likely wouldn’t even be fun for you.”

He grasped her shoulders, drawing his head back and meeting her eyes with the utmost solemnity.  “I’ve never let a woman control me in the bedroom.”

The thumping in her chest grew louder.  Dominating him hadn’t been something she’d ever considered or thought she wanted to do, but it was weirdly tempting.  Allegra knew that he had been with countless women over the years, and she was okay with that.  It was part of who he had been, and that made him who he was today.  It didn’t, however, prevent an inkling of insecurity from creeping in now and then as to how she measured up to the ‘professionals’.  For him to offer himself in a way that no other woman had experienced…

She shrugged again, as though it were no big deal, but her senses tingled at the thought.  “Then I’ll keep it mind.  And no, we can’t skip the doctor’s appointment.  I want it over with.”   

Scooting out from under the weight of his arm, Allegra threw back the covers to Richie’s disgruntled growl, leaving him scrambling to pull the sheet back up to his waist.  He liked being naked, but he wanted the coolness of the sheet against his skin at the same time.  She smiled indulgently as she stood over him.  “But I’ll get you some coffee and give you ten more minutes sleep if you tell me where you got an engagement ring in the middle of the night.”

Face buried in the pillow, his response was an incoherent mumble.  “Did I mention I’d like for you to tell me in English?” she asked casually, moving easily around the room, gathering her clothes so that she could take a shower.

With a sigh of impatience, he flopped over so that his cheek was buried in the downy pillow instead of his mouth.  “I said I didn’t get it in the middle of the night.  I’ve had it awhile.”

Her hand stilled on her panties in the open drawer and she slowly rose to face him, the scrap of cotton dangling from her fingers.   It surprised her and sent a little thrill through her at the same time.  She wondered exactly how long awhile was.   “Awhile?”

“Mmm-hm.  Didn’t you promise me coffee?”

“I did.” She tossed her panties on the bed, gravitating toward the in-room coffee maker to begin the preparations.  “So how long is awhile?”

“Hmm?” 

He was either struggling to stay awake or avoiding the question.  Studying him briefly over her shoulder, she saw that his face wasn’t lax enough to be asleep.

“Richie…”  She flipped the covers off his feet and tugged on his big toe.  “When did you get the ring?”

He rolled over on his back, squinting down at her.  “When I was in Miami.”

Miami?  They hadn’t been in Florida since…

“The day you found out you were pregnant.”

“Oh.”  She picked up her clothes from the bed and padded to the bathroom to start her shower, not really sure what to think.  Should she be happy that he had been planning for this so long ago, or upset that he apparently changed his mind for a while?

She pushed the door closed and turned the hot water on full-blast.  A cold one would wake her up more, but couldn’t pass up the comfort of a steaming hot shower.  Loading herself up with toothpaste, she brushed her teeth while waiting for the water to warm.  Patting her mouth dry, she started when the door opened.

Richie purposefully slipped his arms around her.  “Don’t go there.”

“Go where?”

Sighing, he pushed the hair from her forehead, pressing his lips to the skin he exposed.  “To the place where you wonder why I did what I did until you drive yourself nuts.  The long and short of it is:  I went to the condo expecting to propose, but you were gone.  I was hurt and confused and it took me a while to get past it, but I never stopped loving you.  Not for a minute.”

Any guilt she’d felt about leaving him multiplied by at least six and a half.  She hadn’t just left him.  She’d left him with an engagement ring in his hand and no real explanation.  She was a bitch.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized with watery eyes.

“Hey.”  He dragged her chin up to look at him.  “Don’t do that.  The past is done.  We’re engaged now and I worked through some issues along the way.  It’s all good, baby.”

“Is it?  Is it really?”

“You promised me forever.”  He palmed the bump in her belly.  “And we’re having a baby.  How can it not be good?”

Allegra rose on tip-toe to capture his mouth in a clinging kiss.  “Speaking of babies, what is Ava going to say?”

A full-dimple grin made her heart skip a beat.  “She wants to know if she can call you Legs.”

“Huh?”

“With the time difference, the middle of the night was the perfect time for me to call her.  I told her what I was planning to do and asked how she felt about it.  She said ‘cool’ and wanted to know if she could call you Legs, like Uncle David does.”

Their combined laughter swirled together among the steam that had begun rolling from behind the shower curtain.   “And what did you tell her?”

“That she shouldn’t want to do everything Uncle David does, because it will get her in trouble.  Then I said I didn’t think you would mind, and that I would ask.”

“Wise Papa,” she approved with another kiss.  “Now go get your coffee so I can shower.  You want to be wide awake when they pierce my stomach with a ridiculously long needle.”

“Ack.  Why in the hell are we doing this again?” he groused, swatting her bare butt as she climbed into the tub.

“Because it’s the right thing to do.”